"Beneath Autumn's Grain" I walk the fields where autumn's rusted sprawl Lays down in layers, thick as hearth-warmed clay, And footpaths thread through furrows deep and raw, Beneath the browned leaves strewn in slow decay. The soil here wears a coat of earth's own grain, Coarse as burlap, soft as crumbling bread, Each clod, a dark and sun-baked stain, Holding warmth in shades of brown and red. Umber hums with tales of stone and seed, Of roots that burrow in the silent dark, And whispers of a slow, unhurried need, To cradle life, to shield the hidden spark. There's warmth in this rough color, rough and sure, Like hands that turn the soil with patient grace, As roots reach deep to places warm and pure, Anchoring earth in autumn's worn embrace. © Concetta Pipia U.S. "The Color Umber" What is this color that I dream in slumber? The one for me that is a high number. With hints of red and yellow upon the dark brown, Umber wears this fusion as its crown. When all of Autumn is contained in a color's glow; Upon its radiance I bestow, This gift I give within a poem, To 'Umber' I welcome home. Live always within the creative mind, Let your beauty flourish to remind, The artist's brush is filled with your beauty. The poet's praise hails your duty. Oh Umber, how brilliant you bloom, Trees and flowers you do groom. Umber is the mantle of the ground's wealth. Upon all the Earth's surface it is seen and felt. © Fibby Bob Kinney U.S. "Heliotrope Princess" Early autumn flowers dance happily in bloom Splashing with vibrant colors like a birds plume Your scent traveling by the sea and swaying trees Gives me comfort and solace with a gentle breeze. Specks of light purple and pink Flows magical with paper and ink My heart is yours, my eternal love Sign of blessings only from above. The heliotrope of raceme scent in the fields Blowing towards the east side hanging like a shield Its dainty petals alluring to the human touch Smelling its vanilla nectar which bees will crush. Writing my thoughts in poetic format with rhymes Dearest flora my literary princess don't waste your time I embrace you with a tender calm My devotion offers a tranquil balm. © Gloria Magallanes-Loeb SFO, USA "Colors of Goddess" As they gather amaranth for the goddess of fertility Deep reddish purple as timeless beauty, Umay of succulent immortality Descends as the winter darkness fell on her feet, Clouds of opulence with Byzantium butterflies deep purple with tinge of red clouding her skin with lustrous silk and satin, Playing ney down at the river of devotion To lure the heart of lovers and faithful spirits To kneel for her, The reverent mother with power at Constantinople. © Sheila Ann Packirnathan Malaysia "Fragments of Thought" Hidden in the depth of the ocean floor of our minds undisturbed by the undulating waves of our lives, the nacre lies ensconced in its own silent world away from prying eyes that pierce the soul shielding its varied hues depending on its mood pink, cream, yellow, orange a tinge or royal gold simply waiting for the right time to behold snippets of conversations fragments of thoughts of a life with stories untold we all have this yearning inside, to flip open our hearts and all to share the silent, stifled sighs, the gnawing pain, the tears we bare, sometimes buried in the maze of the shells we are all pearls, lacquered, iridescent longing, to be strung and donned. © Rosemarie Miranda Philippines